Third Time's the Charm
by Jerseycaramel
Summary: A three part story about Jake and Cassandra. The two times they use each other to get out of sticky situations, and the one time where they don't deny it anymore. Basically, all fluff.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hello peoples! This is my first attempt at Jassandra but they are fast becoming one of my fave OTP's, because have you seen Christian Kane? (YUM!) and Lindy Booth is gorgeous! Anyways

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'Cassie, honey!' Jake called to the red head, trying not to sound desperate.

Thank the good lord she came looking for him.

Baird had sent them off like a normal day at the office, separating them with their own little missions, reporting back to the group when they got the intel. That was the easy part. What hadn't been easy was getting rid of the receptionist he'd been interrogating for information. OK, maybe he had used some charm to get what he needed from her; sue him. All that needed to be said was 'we're the librarians' and an odd magical presence would make the person go all doe eyed and told them to find out everything they needed. And that's what happened, except, the woman he was questioning decided to get… Clingy as soon as he called her "darlin'"and smiled at her.

It wasn't necessary really, after the magic of the library took hold, but it was just as simple to be polite when asking questions - it got you further than acting like a tool as Jones had demonstrated on many occasions. He took a mental note to only ever call Cassandra that from now on, she seemed to be less enthralled by the word, which Jake wasn't sure if how that made him feel.

The receptionist, Sue-Ellen, touched his forearms as she spoke to him, batting her eyelids at him, flashing him flirtatious smiles as he asked her about the case. And then she started her own interrogation, asking him all sorts of personal questions and making comments that made him uncomfortable: what did he find attractive in a woman, 'your muscles are so big!' - until Cassie walked past as a godsend in a frilly, pink skirt and he flat out lied, interrupting Sue-Ellen to top it all off.

'And here comes my beautiful wife now,' he sighed thankfully when he saw her walking past. She probably swinging back to find him and find out what he learnt. He didn't care, he just hoped she would help bail him out of this predicament, hoping the brunette would get the idea that he was not a bit interested. She didn't have red hair, synesthesia or a beautiful way of looking at the world (not that he knew of anyway, but there was no one like Cassandra).

'Wife?' the receptionist squawked, Jake ignored her.

'Cassie, honey! Over here!'

Cassandra gave him a perplexed look in response and hesitated a moment. His eyes must have pleaded with her to go along with it as she walked over to him. He smiled and took her by the waist, kissing her cheek in greeting. Cassie tensed up at the intimate gesture which didn't surprise him; they barely touched as it was, save for that hug before he went to play with the Library's sun, or the occasional hand graze when passing a book. 'Please just go with it,' he pleaded in hushed tones against her skin before leaving her cheek. He felt her body relax ever so slightly into him; she still wasn't entirely comfortable with this, but it was enough to sell the ruse.

Then something in her eyes changed. Her smile widened, became more natural and soft. Her hands slipped up his chest and found a home clasped at the back of his neck. He gulped at the warmth of her palms on his skin. 'What took you so long, babe? I was getting worried,' she purred. Jake's heart pounded at how effortlessly she slipped into the persona of his lover. One of the reasons why he kept his distance was so he didn't get tempted, and seeing her this way, languid in his arms, with only eyes for him, was a huge temptation.

He was quiet, just taking her in. She was beautiful, no way around it, inside and out. He would never tire of looking at her, never tire of listening to her explain some mathematical concept because of the passion there.

She stroked the back of his head gently and he realised he was just staring at her, much like he would a beautiful piece of art. He had never been this close to her and he had fallen into the trap of studying her features, taking advantage of the closeness to memorise everything about her features, how she felt in his arms. Her forehead creased slightly at his silence.

He cleared his throat. 'We just got to talkin' here, I lost track of time,' he replied with a warm smile. Cassie must have seen something in his features because her crinkled forehead smoothed out and she blushed.

'Are you all done now?' She smiled sweetly, and his heart damn near flipped; he loved that smile, loved it more when she gave it to him.

'Yeah, I think so,' Jacob turned back to the receptionist, 'thank you for all your help, but I best be getting back.'

'No rings?' The receptionist bit, arms folded.

With arms still wrapped around each other, Jake saw the flutter of Cassandra's eyelids at the nastiness she was met with. Without realising it, his arms tightened just that little bit more around her. He tried to convince himself it was because she was continuously nice to everyone, that she didn't deserve to be spoken to like that and she was his friend. That nagging voice that sounded quite a bit like Jenkins, disagreed with that theory.

Her attention turned back to Jake when he tightened his grip on her, head tilting to the side gently and a smile appeared at the corner of her mouth. Her she crinkled her nose slightly, telling him not to worry about it.

She focused back on Sue-Ellen, 'We don't wear them at work,' Cassandra replied smoothly, with just a hint of a bite. 'We would hate to lose them. We go so many places it would be hard to track them down.'

'Well,' she snapped. 'Maybe you should start. I mean, someone could get the wrong idea,' she said poisonously at Jake before turning to Cassie. 'I'd be worried, if I were you.'

Jake had never seen Cassie so annoyed before. Her eyes narrowed and her lips pursed slightly. And then she did something he never thought she would in a million years.

Blowing out an annoyed puff of air, Cassandra turned back to him, lifting up on her toes and pressed her lips to his.

He was shocked for an instant, not quite comprehending what had happened. After a second of non compliance by him, she started to pull away, but he tightened his grip on her waist, and cupped her neck, holding her there a few seconds longer. If this was happening, he was damned sure he was going to kiss her properly.

Jake deepened the kiss, sucking on her bottom lip. Cassie moaned into him softly, and he near lost all composure. Her lips moved over his with an urgency of something more than a friend. It was then that he remembered where he was and what was happening, and it was hardly the place for a make out session.

Reluctantly, he pulled away from her lips, to find her red cheeked and breathing a little harder. Her lips disappeared into her mouth, trying not to smile shyly and failing terribly.

'She doesn't need to worry about a thing,' he said, smoothing her hair behind her ear. Jake grinned blissfully, getting lost in the moment again with her in his arms. 'I'm not goin' anywhere.'

Cassie smiled, so brightly, he'd never seen anything so beautiful. She took his hand, uncurling it from around her waist and tugged on him, relieving him from the hell he'd unwittingly got himself into. Jake followed happily, enjoying her fingers twined with his.

'Nice to meet you,' Cassie added to the receptionist.

Jake couldn't stop the giddy laugh as it escaped from his mouth.

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A/N: reviews give me a happy!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Hello peoples! So I have now moved to the UK, hence why this took a while (and if anyone is following Lily, a new chapter will be out in the new year, promise)

Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favourited and followed :) there are probably mistakes through this, but I'm suffering with jet lag, and I've been working on it since 4am.

Anyways, on with the show!

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Cassandra and Jake had been sent on the food run, opting to take the slower path and drive instead of use the Back Door. There was a Thai restaurant close to Cassie's apartment that Baird loved, and Jake was more inclined to go there than have another pizza like the Australian wanted. Cassie had laughed at Jake's attempt at the Australian cadence - his annoyance at not getting his beloved pizza - and he returned it, his eyes crinkled at the sides when she knew it was a true smile, with something else glimmering in his eyes. She pushed it away, and looked out the window, trying to calm herself. She would _not_ dwell on these feelings again.

Jake practically parked out the front of her apartment, so she decided to run home and grab a book she needed to return to the Library on quantum mechanics. Had she known she was going to run into that particular neighbour, Cassie would have chosen a pizza place in Italy to go to.

Mark was a nice guy, curly brown hair, wore glasses, rather tall; but he wasn't what she wanted and he was rather persistent which was getting annoying. Cassie noticed him noticing her outside her building and he quickened his pace, making a beeline for her.

'Jake, kiss me,' she said desperately before she could stop herself.

'W-what?' It spluttered out of his mouth in shock.

They hadn't talked about the kiss since it happened; hadn't had anymore either, and that was a travesty. She had dreamt about it occasionally, remembered every detail about it and him. He made her heart pound and it was difficult to be around him for a short while after it happened, especially since nothing more came of it. It was only a five minute deal, saving him from that receptionist, but it felt right in every way. It was a kind of hell knowing what something felt like and not being able to get there again. Things had only just started getting back to normal for her, too, she didn't feel awkward every time she was around him and now she was asking to go back to the awkwardness.

Regardless of what most people saw: the innocent, sweet, defenceless Cassandra, she didn't wallow, didn't let it show. And she had sworn to herself over and over - and not even five minutes ago- that she would keep a lid on those feelings. This would certainly make them all come rushing back, swallowing her like a dam breaking.

She turned to Jake, talking at warp speed, 'The guy that's walking towards us, glasses, messy brown hair, he's my neighbour, he wanted to date me, I said no, that I had a boyfriend, he obviously didn't believe me and won't leave me alone.' she said in one breath.

Jake wasted precious seconds looking between her and the guy getting closer with every quick step. She was getting more and more frustrated by Jake's stationary frame.

Until he finally moved, placing an arm around her waist, and pulling her close. Her heart stuttered with excitement as he curled a strand of hair behind her ear and whispered to her.

'I don't have to kiss you, you know. I could wait until he comes over and introduce myself as your boyfriend. That would be the polite thing to do.'

Of course, he would say that, Jacob Stone was nothing if not a polite Southern gentleman, for once it disappointed her. Her heart dropped and it must have showed on her face, because his lips twitched, oddly happy at her sadness. He traced his thumb along the corner of her mouth. 'But it's not as fun as this-' he pressed his lips against hers and she was giddy.

Her arms went around his neck and she giggled into him. She could feel the smile on his lips as he kissed her, felt the heat and the passion that said it was more than a friendly kiss.

Jake broke away from her lips, but didn't move away from her body. Cassie took the opportunity to look for Mark - he should have been right next to them now by the speed he was walking. But he was nowhere to be seen.

Cassandra grinned. It had worked.

'He's gone,' She said turning back to Jake and her smile fell. He hadn't stopped looking at her since their lips had separated. She gulped at the raw emotion written over his face. He should have moved away from her, but he still had hold of her waist with no intention of letting her go.

'Good,' Jake said sternly, cupping her cheek and bringing his lips to hers again. Her blood ran hot as he kissed her deeply, making her tingle from head to toe. Scientifically speaking, she knew romance and love were chemical processes that happened in the body, a drive that made humans come together and reproduce; a biological, subconscious need that couldn't be stopped. But Jake made her question that; made her believe in soul mates and 'meant to be's, because kissing him, touching him was not something she had ever experienced with another human before.

They broke apart a few times, to smile or take in the moment, but neither dared move from each other's breaths for fear of shattering it. She could feel his smile as it met hers, and each kiss got a little more heated than the last.

'Cassie,' he murmured on her lips. That breathy, rough sound of his voice made her stomach twist erotically and would haunt her dreams in the best kind of way.

She hummed as she dove back into him, kissing him hungrily. He pulled her waist closer to his body, responding with the same vigor.

Until his phone started to blare in his pocket. They both groaned at the same time, lips still connected. Cassie pulled away first, but not before Jake pulled her back for one last soft kiss. They smiled at each other, trying to forget the annoying ring of his phone.

Jake kept a hand at her waist while the other dug in his pocket. He scowled at the phone before answering.

'Hello? Yes, we're coming back now. No we did not get sidetracked, Jones! Get your mind out of the gutter!' His thumb tapped the screen violently and put it in his back pocket.

Cassie bit her lip nervously. 'He's not that wrong,' she told him quietly.

The annoyance seeped away from his features as he turned back to her, replaced with a cheeky grin. 'He doesn't need to know it, though.'

The didn't speak for a while, through her mind did start going into overdrive, analysing how many breaths he took, the soft throb of the vein at his neck to calculate his blood pressure, the dilation of his pupils - all of which meant he had been aroused. She saw red, but a nice kind of red, the one that made roses beautiful. The colour of passion. Red was one. She saw images of Jake smiling at her, felt all of his touches; saw the chemical construction of serotonin and how it affected the brain-

'Cass. Cassie, come back to me,' he murmured gently, softly pulling on her fingers, lacing them through his to tether her back to reality.

'Usually I talk you through them, what did you see?'

 _That I turned you on_ , she thought to herself. She didn't answer, simply ran her thumb along his lip, removing the shine of lip gloss she put there. 'You, um, have something-'

The look in his eyes made her stop and lose focus. _Need_. That kind of look had not been directed at her in a very long time.

In that moment, she decided not to run away from those feelings, but let her heart revel. Cassie pushed up on her tippy toes, and kissed him gently, lingering only a few seconds before pulling away. It was different this time, needy in a different way, with so much emotion in that small moment. He kissed her back just as gently, his lips only giving the slightest pressure against hers and she swore she had never been touched so reverently in all of her life.

Jake's eyes stayed closed momentarily as she pulled away, a smile lingering on his lips, a smile she saw on him when he looked at a fine piece of artwork or a beautifully constructed building; the things he loved.

'We better get going, Cass,' Jake's rough whisper broke through the moment. 'Before they think we took a detour upstairs.'

'We could, you know,' she said with a smirk, her libido taking control of her mouth.

'Don't tempt me, darlin',' he said dangerously, his voice still rough and heady. It sent a shiver down her spine and heat pooled in her belly. 'But I want a bit more than just ten minutes rough n' tumble, to map out every inch of you.'

Cassie gulped at the intensity in his voice, and wished they weren't on a schedule.

'Now, we better move before I change my mind and carry you upstairs.' He said, pulling on her hand as he dragged her away.

'You know we need to go back there to get the car, right?' She said cheekily.

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A/N: one more chapter to go! reviews give me a happy!


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